Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety in the Aging Woman.

The peri- and postmenopausal periods represent a window of vulnerability for emergence of anxiety symptoms and disorders in the life cycle of adult women. Compared to depression, anxiety symptoms and disorders remain largely unexplored during this phase of a woman's life, despite the significant impact on quality of life if not diagnosed and treated. Here, we review the literature to present our current understanding of the epidemiology, causal factors, diagnosis, and treatment of anxiety in the aging woman.

Menopausal Symptoms and Their Management.

The menopause transition is associated with various symptoms, which can interact to produce morbidity. Vasomotor symptoms are the most commonly reported, but vaginal dryness/dyspareunia, sleep difficulties and adverse mood changes have all been shown to worsen as women approach menopause. For postmenopausal women changes in cognition are more likely to be related to aging and not to hormones.

Hospitalization and cognitive decline: Can the nature of the relationship be deciphered?

Background: Evidence for a relationship between hospitalization and incident cognitive decline exists mainly in the literature focusing on critical care hospitalization. Recent studies, however, have also found an association between noncritical care hospitalization and the development of cognitive decline.

Objective: This article will review the literature pertaining to hospitalization and cognitive decline, including hospitalizations for both critical and noncritical care, and in medical and surgical patients.